2012 Blown Engine (Pics and Video)

[JonezyBones]

This is on a 2012 Pro RMK 162 with 953 miles. No Mods

Last Saturday (3-2-13) we was riding up in one of my favorite spots when the snow is good. First thing in the morning the sled wouldn't start. Thought it was electrical because I washed it off the evening before and thought maybe a connection had taken on water and froze. So checked a bunch of the important connections and disconnected the kill switch.(It was broke anyway) SO still no start.. So pulled the old plugs to inspect and they were really wet and spark was great. Put fresh plugs in and still no start. Eventually after pulling over and over and I gave it a little bit of throttle and she started.

(A little more insight... For a couple of weeks before my sled was having issues getting fired up after stopping for a little break.)

During the day my sled was running horrible. Averaging about 7800 and would dip down to 7600. There was one point where I turned the ethanol plug over to the 10% eth side and I only got about 7200 and it was very doggy. (Ended up getting stuck and switched it back)

So we get way back in the area where nobody had been yet this year and stop at one of the peaks and grab a bite. Me nor my buddy was having much fun with the very poor snow conditions in the area. (6" of wet on top of 3 feet of sugar!)

I thought that possibly the drive belt I had on was going bad and that was why my sled was running so poorly. Of course with the warm conditions and the fact that I haven't broken in my spare I didn't want to try that until we got back on some hard pack.

After lunch we start descending and all the sudden I heard a noise iv never heard before and sled dropped RPM. I immediately turn it off but knew she was toast. Pulled the plugs and PTO side looked tan and the MAG side had a nice aluminum tinge.

So I think great. We was in one of the worst areas to be in with the worst type of snow to get towed out on. And I was worried that if my buddies sled shelled we would be stuck on snow that was almost impossible to walk through to get back home. This scenario was starting to turn into the perfect storm. So after contemplating we decide to try and run her as long as we could and then go from there.

After getting stuck numerous times and having one of the hardest workouts iv had in a couple of months I couldn't believe she ran out over 15 miles back to the truck. I was impressed to say the least. (considering how mad I had been)

So turns out what happened was the cylinder skirt on the MAG intake side broke and shot out the bottom of the case. Damages: Piston, rings, head, cylinders, upper and lower case, crankshaft, and reed.

The hole in the bottom of the case explained why the bottom of the belly pan was filled with oil.

These are the pics of the damage and a video of me running out on one cylinder. (Sorry I didn't get the sled blowing up on film.)

Video of the ride out

 

[JonezyBones]

Sorry for some of the bad pics. Shot with the camera of my phone at the dealer. Didn't have a lot of time.

 

[GoBigParts]

Bummer. Do you have a warranty? What to do next?

 

[snowmobiler]

lucky it ran the 15 miles out.

 

[dub]

Exactly what my 2011 did.... 75 miles on the new motor.

 

[TGitt]

Looks like it's time for a new motor!

I'm sorry, I feel for ya man. Motor problems are no fun at all. I just hope you've got a good dealer and they'll get everything covered for you.

I wonder if Polaris will ever be able to build a reliable 800.

 

[JonezyBones]

Yeah I got the extended warranty when I snow checked the sled. Ill find out hopefully today if it gets covered. I see a new short block in my future.

 

[Dizzle]

Lemme get this straight - you were given multiple warnings about there being something wrong with the motor before hand, but decided to ignore them and ride it anyway??

Hrrmmmmm.......

 

[Dizzle]

So turns out what happened was the cylinder skirt on the MAG intake side broke and shot out the bottom of the case. Damages: Piston, rings, head, cylinders, upper and lower case, crankshaft, and reed.

I personally think all this damage is on the rider, not Polaris. You are the one who chose to ride it after knowing that something was obviously wrong with the sled...everything that you posted above is just a chain reaction. Curious what your dealer says...

 

[knifedge]

--make sure to get a '13 model year engine replacement

--with a new motor, you would have better resale,but then again, you may want to keep your chaincase drivetrain on your '12

 

[snowmobiler]

I personally think all this damage is on the rider, not Polaris. You are the one who chose to ride it after knowing that something was obviously wrong with the sled...everything that you posted above is just a chain reaction. Curious what your dealer says...

from my experiance if you take a new sled in and say something dont seem right,the dealer will say go ride untill it breaks and bring it back.warranty doesnt pay for exploritory surgery.

 

[Dizzle]

....I wonder if Polaris knows about this..

 

[trackvs2wheels]

from my experiance if you take a new sled in and say something dont seem right,the dealer will say go ride untill it breaks and bring it back.warranty doesnt pay for exploritory surgery.

An ACTUAL REASONABLE response from snowmobiler!!!

Only took 6 years for it

 

[Old Scud-doo]

from my experiance if you take a new sled in and say something dont seem right,the dealer will say go ride untill it breaks and bring it back.warranty doesnt pay for exploritory surgery.

I can't believe there was nothing condescending and sarcastic in this reply. Proud of you Snowmobiler. You do have a heart and by your response...at least half a brain. IMPRESSED.

 

[beamslayer]

Hey Dizzle why don't you call polaris and tell them they have another 800 exploded on the mountain and tell them the story and see if they give a hoot .
I feel sorry for ya jones , these engines are a joke I have 4 rides in this yr on my pro cracked cylinder,out of spec pistons,than bad injectors all on my dime 1495 miles .
My friends 12 pro is on its second engine and I am pretty sure the new one will not make the yrs end.

 

[JonezyBones]

Hey Dizzle why don't you call polaris and tell them they have another 800 exploded on the mountain and tell them the story and see if they give a hoot .
I feel sorry for ya jones , these engines are a joke I have 4 rides in this yr on my pro cracked cylinder,out of spec pistons,than bad injectors all on my dime 1495 miles .
My friends 12 pro is on its second engine and I am pretty sure the new one will not make the yrs end.

Yeah Dizzle be my guest. PM me and ill give you my vin and you can call a complaint on me. Yeah all the tale tale signs make sense now after the fact. Earlier this year I had the exact same signs besides the sled not starting and it was due to a faulty drive belt. I converted over from cat and It had been 14 years since I had an engine go. Maybe next time you can help me out on paying for a dealer to troubleshoot my problem. It doesn't deny the fact the engine was still faulty before it grenaded. That kind of failure doesn't just happen in one ride.

 

[Dizzle]

Hey Dizzle why don't you call polaris and tell them they have another 800 exploded on the mountain and tell them the story and see if they give a hoot .

Not my sled, or money, or problem. Thanks though.

It doesn't deny the fact the engine was still faulty before it grenaded. That kind of failure doesn't just happen in one ride.

You obviously have no idea what detonation will do to a motor.

From the way it sounds - from your own description - is that you had a fuel delivery problem. Now I'm not a motor guru, and most of my experience is with 4 strokes, but engines are not a complex thing. They are basically a giant vaccum. Fuel delivery issues are not a complex problem to solve, there are only so many things that can prevent the system from functioning properly. It is not the sleds fault, or Polaris', for the damage that occurred AFTER you decided to ride it.

If you do not have basic mechanic skills, maybe you guys should be riding the 600 Pro or even a fan cooled motor. If your pickup's check engine light comes on, do you ignore it and keep driving it until it blows up? And then blame Ford for the damages? Cuz this is exactly what you are doing with Polaris..

 

[JonezyBones]

Not my sled, or money, or problem. Thanks though.



You obviously have no idea what detonation will do to a motor.

From the way it sounds - from your own description - is that you had a fuel delivery problem. Now I'm not a motor guru, and most of my experience is with 4 strokes, but engines are not a complex thing. They are basically a giant vaccum. Fuel delivery issues are not a complex problem to solve, there are only so many things that can prevent the system from functioning properly. It is not the sleds fault, or Polaris', for the damage that occurred AFTER you decided to ride it.

If you do not have basic mechanic skills, maybe you guys should be riding the 600 Pro or even a fan cooled motor. If your pickup's check engine light comes on, do you ignore it and keep driving it until it blows up? And then blame Ford for the damages? Cuz this is exactly what you are doing with Polaris..

I guess your going to be buying a fan cooled or 600 when you get a snowmobile. That statement alone shows you have no idea what your talking about. Buying a 600 may be more reliable but you could still have issues. Just because its a 600 doesn't mean you cannot take care of it. And fan cooled engines are inferior to the efficiency of a liquid cooled engine. (Could be why you don't see a whole lot of them.)

If you cant tell from the pictures it was the exact same problem that almost everyone is having with their pro. The cylinder skirt broke because the piston had been rubbing against it for who knows how many miles. It got week over time and then broke off into the crank and out the bottom. There were no signs of deto whatsoever.

My sled having starting issues first thing in the morning was probably a sign that with a cold engine that had spark and had a good amount of fuel, was lacking the ingredient of enough compression to help get things going.

Maybe if I had a check engine light on my pro that detected the life between the two cylinders than yes I would have taken it to the mechanic. That would be the proof I would need in order for them to start searching for a problem.

 

[AdrenalineAddict]

All these failures I've been seeing appear to be mild Deto. Are all these failures being caused by people running on the premium resistor running ethanol fuel? They all seem to fail in the same manner, slight swell and scuff followed by a better developed scuff and score followed by failure. I don't know of a single failure to date by anyone running on the ethanol resistor.

 

[rags319]

Not my sled, or money, or problem. Thanks though.



You obviously have no idea what detonation will do to a motor.

From the way it sounds - from your own description - is that you had a fuel delivery problem. Now I'm not a motor guru, and most of my experience is with 4 strokes, but engines are not a complex thing. They are basically a giant vaccum. Fuel delivery issues are not a complex problem to solve, there are only so many things that can prevent the system from functioning properly. It is not the sleds fault, or Polaris', for the damage that occurred AFTER you decided to ride it.

If you do not have basic mechanic skills, maybe you guys should be riding the 600 Pro or even a fan cooled motor. If your pickup's check engine light comes on, do you ignore it and keep driving it until it blows up? And then blame Ford for the damages? Cuz this is exactly what you are doing with Polaris..

Do they ask you if you have mechanical skills when you buy a 800 and then tell you if you dont to buy a 600. Dumbist thing Ive heard. Maybe its says it in the manual. I would of rode the POS too.